History

Our Founder: Dainin Katagiri-roshi

Clouds in Water Zen Center follows in the lineage of Dainin Katagiri-roshi, a Soto Zen monk who came to this country in the early 1960’s, worked with Shunryu Suzuki-roshi for ten years at Zen Center in San Francisco, and came to Minnesota starting the Minnesota Zen Meditation Center in 1972.

The Early Years

Clouds in Water was founded by Dosho Mike Port who was the guiding teacher and executive director of Clouds in Water from 1994 to 2004. In April, 2015 Clouds in Water moved to its current location at 445 Farrington St. in St. Paul three blocks from the Green Line – Western Station.

Clouds in Water Today

As of February, 2015 Sosan Theresa Flynn became the Guiding Teacher for Clouds in Water Zen Center.

Byakuren Judith Ragir continues to be involved as a senior dharma teacher. She began her tenure November 1, 2006. Byakuren studied with Dainin Katagiri-roshi for 17 years at the Minnesota Zen Meditation Center. Following his death in 1990, Byakuren began working as a teacher at Clouds in Water. She was instrumental in the development of the center and was the Guiding Teacher for nine years.

In January 2015, Byakuren stepped down from her role as Guiding Teacher. Sosan Flynn, formally the Executive Director, took over as Guiding Teacher. For more information on our teachers see this page.